higher than that but i saw president obama on tv one month before the election saying he was not concerned about the deficit. do all the people on medicaid come out of the medicare program? >> certainly. i like the ryan proposal on medicaid to block grant the proposal. we've the mitt future increases to population growth. the state's coming just exactly as welfare, people on both sides argue. but with a false proposal it is not new it has worked in another context before but he had the political courage and skill to pass the house. >> the g.o.p. plan faces a crisis to privatize social security and medicare says twitter. >>guest: not true. the fiscal crisis is not dealing with medicare and social security. we try to name those and save those programs right now everybody pays in more than their parents and grandparents. without a fix we will get considerably less. medicare goes bankrupt. sit-down and deal with it. it is the math problem not to get rid of them. >>host: talk about middle-class americans and extending tax cuts "the new york times" said raising the medicare eligibility

to pay their bills. i saw president obama on tv a month or so before election seen he wasn't concerned about the deficit. i have a question to ask that i've been wondering. to solve these people on medicaid that obama put on medicaid, does that come out of the medicare program? >> guest: yes it does. it certainly does. part of the reason i like the right purpose on medicaid, essentially to broccoli and the program to the states -- this is not a cut in spending come up with in the future increases to population growth and inflation, something like that. we found the states do exactly what we did welfare in 1990s. most people on both sides argue well. the great thing about paul's proposal as it's not new stuff. a lot of it has to do is another context. what's new is he at the political courage and skill to put in a package you could pass out. >> host: the geo-plan is to create a fiscal crisis of them privatize social security and medicare. just go absolutely not true. looks great in the fiscal crisis is not done with medicare and social security right now. our aim is to say tho

support their state seceding from the union because of president obama's re-election. another 19% said they weren't sure whether their state should secede or not. that means leave america, become something else. it isn't just people tell anonymous pollsters. in many states people were signing in open public marketplaces, out in the street, petitions to leave the country. in seven states the petitions have received enough support to force the white house to respond actually. take a look at this map and where the petitions have received -- well, that's a big shock. tennessee, north carolina, i love north carolina, georgia, florida, alabama, louisiana, and texas. the secession movement has the most signatures in texas, of course, with nearly 120,000 people signing on. according to the "new york times," quote, secession fever has struck parts of texas. in texas talks of secession has steadily shifted to the center from the fringe. what is really going on here? let's find out. dana milbank has the right attitude, and ron reagan, a good friend of mine, an msnbc political analyst. i have to l

a phone call to top donors days after the election. he said he lost because president obama gave policy gifts to key voting groups, including miss panics, african-americans, and young voters. >> what the president's campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, give them extraordinary financial gifts from the government, and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote. >> fast forward to today when romney will sit down with the president in a private dining room of the white house. the two carry on kind of an i guess awkward tradition. s this meeting between the winner and the loser. i want to bring in candy crowley, chief political correspondent. candy, if only we knew. if only. flies on the wall, you know? it's one of those private things that happens. they clear out everybody. . no cameras. nobody. the two of them sit down there and try to hash it out. what can you imagine they are discussing today? >> i can't, actually. this is something that you do. it's good for the country to see the person who lost, talk about the person who won, and we can all

inside the war room. >> thank you for having me back. >> let's look at the obama cabinet. it reflects incredible differs city, thediversecity. there may be some overlapped in numbers, but after the election, a lot of the republican campaign strategists made it clear that the gop needs to open its arms the women and minorities and gays and why aren't republicans getting that message if you look at that committee chairmanship appointment that happened today? >> that's an absolutely great point. looking at the 19 folks who are appointed all member, all white as you pointed out it does seem to be out of step with what you hear from the republican party. we have to embrace the entire fabric of america. if you were to look at the house republicans as a math, there aren't a lot of options there. there aren't a whole lot of women, a whole lot of people of color to choose from. it's important to note there have been big gains in leadership rogers, wag nurse of missouri. in the way of an election, you saw very big divide between the people who had supported the president's reelection and mitt r

the election campaign toward obama, that wasn't fake. >> right. >> that was really real, and in a way, you know, the fact that the president won in the teeth of opposition from the super rich and the fact that he is now more insistent than ever on raising the taxes on the very top, does not exactly endure him to the entire business community. so i wouldn't say that battle is won, but i do think that what you're starting to hear from business is a sense that maybe republicans actually are not better stewards of the economy as a whole. and that's scary. >> is there any evident effect being felt from the president's ongoing ceo tour? since the election, despite the hostility, the feeling of betrayal on the part of the white house, he's been going to business group after business group, having business leaders over to the white house. is that paying dividends? are people sort of -- is there any calming of those passions because of the diplomacy tour? >> sure. i think it really matters. you know, businesspeople, believe it or not, are human beings, too, and like to be paid attention to. th

are still votes being tallied from the presidential election. the very latest on president obama's growing margin of victory and the single best bellwether county in the country. i'll be telling you where that is. see, it's not even today's trivia question. but first, a look ahead at the president's schedule. an interview today, television interview. bloomberg. with the spark cash card from capital one, olaf gets great rewards for his small business! pizza! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! helium delivery. put it on my spark card! [ pop! ] [ garth ] why settle for less? great businesses deserve great rewards! awesome!!! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? [ male announcer ] it's that time of year again. medicare open enrollment. time to compare plans and costs. you don't have to make changes. but it never hurts to see if you can find better coverage, save money, or both. and check out the preventive

seconds with wayne lapierre of the nra who said of president obama got elected to a second term he would curb gun rights. people listened. gun sales records broken. veour . joe doesn't know it yet, but he'll wk his y up from busser to waiter to chef before opening a restaurant specializing in fish and me from the great northwest. he'll start investing early, he'll find some good people to help guide him, nd he'll set money aside from his first day of work to his last, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense. from td ameritrade. stuart: the team clothing retailer aerospatiale is down. nicole: when they come out with their earnings and sales have been decent but it is the al look that has been disappointing so as a result we are seeing them to the down side. where we saw american eagle and abercrombie and fitch and other teen retailers doing better overall and giving out books that were better, and aerospatiale is getting pummeled down 7%. stuart: thank you. as we all know sales of guns have been booming this year, they really boom on black friday. the fbi field 154,000 ba

who have written about president obama. from last month's washington ideas forum, this is less than a half-hour. >> before the election we were putting together some of these panels. we had one titled why did he win, why did he lose. we are having three authors of at some books about president obama, jonathan alter, and david mariness. interviewedg to be by a great interviewer purity always ask the questions, and ever i was writing a profile, what is he really like? >> where is the profile? >> it is on my laptop. >> thank you. it is great to be here. [applause] for the zoo cannot figure out which is which, david, jonathan, ron. i will start in the middle. this book is the center holds. what is it in your first book about obama that made you cast him as a centrist? >> i always thought he was a pragmatist. his overall approach to issues when he was in the u.s. senate, it the audacity of hope, about his altogether three senate career. it is clear that he is not an ideologue. i always thought the idea of him a socialist or what ever is just a smear. >> how did he get that way? >> it was s

not suggested until president obama said "elections have consequences, and i won the." it was after that that the statement was made. they have roadbed dead horse for miles and miles and miles and it is getting bad. what that meant was it was his way or no way. that is why people said they were working towards a one-term president for him. obama is trying to wreck the economy so he can set up his socialist and communist government and agenda and people will be weak enough they will accept it. host: sarah from west virginia. let's of columns in the paper today. here is one from "the washington times." i want to take you to "the washington post." i want to go to janet from massachusetts on the democratic line. caller: good morning. how are you? i just wanted to say i remember when the bush gave us all $250 per adult for our tax cuts. you add those up and it becomes quite a big sum of money. it is a pittance for individuals, but it is a big amount of money. that was the beginning of the and for our economy. it was a planned demise by mr. bush. was he not the grandson of a man -- presid

citi.com/pricerewind. >>> today in his first interview since winning re-election, president obama talked about the fiscal cliff standoff. he put his foot down on what is negotiable and what is not. >> we have to say the rates on the top 2% go up. and we're not going to get a deal without it. understand the reason for that. it's not me being stubborn. it's not me being partisan. it's just a matter of math. i'm happy to entertain other ideas the republicans may present, but we are not going to cut our way to prosperity or cut our way out of the deficit problem we have. >> so, are we on the verge of something big, something that could really change our politics? joining me now, senator barbara boxer, democrat from california and whip of the senate. thank you for being on the show. >> i love being on your show. thank you. >> if the gop agrees to tax increases, how important might that be in terms of showing they actually are capable of working with the president? >> you know, the way they raised the question, if they agree to tax increases, they claim they're willing to do these loop-hole cl

. >>> this election will go down as the most expensive race ever waged. more than $2 billion spent. president obama and the democrats raised $960 million by the time the campaign ended. mitt romney and the gop brought in more than $920 million. president obama's approval rating has soared since this election. it stands at 57%, according to a new associated press poll. that is his highest park since may of last year when osama bin laden was killed. it's five points higher than before the election. 52% of the believe the country is on the right track, and most believe president obama will improve the economy. >>> the face of politics will change today, so to speak. david axelrod is saying sayonara to his mustache. he promised to shave it if he raised more than $1 million for epilepsy research. he surpassed his goal. the facial hair will soon be no more. you're saying your dad had a beard. when he shaved, you didn't recognize him. >> he had a beard until i was 10 or 11 years old. he shaved it one day and i said, who is that? >> melissa mollet had a similar story about her dad. >> your

mr. obama scattered by failed negotiations in his first term and emboldened by his re-election has shown to be a dlimp different negotiate or. the white house reminded people what the president basically campaigned on saying that everybody knew going in what they were getting re-lecting th this stifle president. does he walk with confidence of re-election under his belt and is this the way it's going to go, nor mr. nice guy approach? >> i think the president believes very strongly that we can't repeat the mistakes of the past. that going back to tax cuts for the wealthiest americans, hoping that trickles down the rest of us have failed us for well over a decade. what we need to do instead is be serious about protecting the middle class and the republicans agree with that. don't hold those tax breaks for millionaires hostage. let's reduce taxes for the middle class. that's something that we all agree on fine let's get it done. if we believe we need to make certain investments which we do to grow the economy, in infrastructure and innovation and making sure america is always on the c

you think about the translation of the kind of technology the obama campaign built up for this re-election campaign? there has been a lot written about how robust and data-driven and sort of unprecedented their voter contact machine was for this re-election. what do you think about the employability of that towards policy? it is not like they are using more than a database. the system they built to come up with whose door to knock on to come up with the election. it is not like they are using that exact system. they have proven capable of developing something in terms of human contact and technology that nobody else has done before. do you think that cob a game-changer? >> i think they are trying to figure out whether they can make it a game-changer. they have this incredible machine they have built, a machine like no political machine that has ever been built before. it is an amazing thing but we know it's very good at getting people out of their houses to the polls on election day. it is very good at that. is it -- how does it affect policy? can you organize -- the way you organ

she's done. >> that was president obama today at his first cabinet meeting since winning re-election. today, she received this praise from secretary of state hillary clinton. >> susan rice has done a great job as our ambassador to the united nations. and of course, this decision about my successor is up to the president. >> today, republican senators continued to try to open up the massachusetts senate seat that scott brown could run for. >> i think john kerry would be an excellent appointment and would be easily confirmed by his colleagues. >> if the president wants an easy confirmation hearing and process, nominate john kerry, who is imminently qualified to be secretary of state and i believe he would sail through in the nominating process. >> joining me now, ari mel ber. ari, you're coming to us tonight from kerry country, boston and i've got to think this is a horrible moment for senator kerry. you don't want to be the guy who gets praise from the mindless attackers of susan rice. >> yeah, i don't think he wants any part of this very weird boomerang play the republicans are tryin

wrote about this and you also say that the obama campaign is engaging supporters about how to move forward. even conducting a post-election survey of sorts. what do you know? >> we know that more than one million of the supporters answered it and we already know that this big obama army is working on fiscal cliff matters where they're sgogoing to be, t are mobilized to help support the president's plan to get the tax breaks in first, but we're learning history, finally. we're getting it in the first david alex raxlerod is talking he never thought that paul ryan would be the vice president pick. >> who did he think? >> he thought it would be rob portman to help in ohio or tim pawlenty. he never thought ryan because that would introduce medicare into the political conversation and distract romney from his main message of the economy. that's why he thought he never would pick him and, of course, he did, and, of course, it did change the romney mesage for a while. >> the president, molly ball, the president could be making a major decision as early as next week by making his announceme

voted for that. i saw president obama on television about one month or so before the election saying he was not concerned about the deficit. i have a question. do all of the people on medicaid, that obama put on medicaid, does it come out of the medicaid program? guest: yes, it does. that is why i like paul ryan plan, which limits inflation growth. we find the states do better with exactly what we did on welfare in the 1990's. the great thing about paul's proposal is that it is not new. it has worked before. what is new that -- is that he had the political courage to put it in a package. host: con twitter, alabama, chris -- the gop plan is to create fiscal crisis that can privatize social security and medicare. guest: that is not true. our aim is to expand those programs for future generations. right now, everybody paying in is paying more than their parents and grandparents, and if we do not make changes they will get considerably less. let's sit down and deal with these things. if it is a math problem. we're not talking about getting rid of the program. we are talking about

trying to win back the minority votes that beat he crap out of them in this election. host: dan from maryland on a republican line. good morning. caller: i think by the time obama finishes with his four years, i don't think any democrat is going to be foa roud for a while. i think we are in for a major recession. i think people are happy until all the bills start coming in. look at the states and counties that are going bankrupt. i don't think anyone will be in the mood to hire democrats. they will look to the republican out. to bial theail them as far as obama taxing the rich, you notice he does not touch entitlements. most of the rich is going to get off on tax breaks so there will only be certain rich that will be taxed. host: from "the hill" this morning -- 40 something republican senators sent a letter to the president yesterday. they conclude by saying -- again, this is 40 something republican senators, a letter to the president yesterday. back to your calls on the future for an the rodham clinton. this is a democrat from ohio. caller: i am fine tha, thank yo. i think if we get

-- feel motivated in these past elections by what a wonderful president i think barack obama is and how important it is that he get a chance to govern, if possible. but, anyway, my father gave me my politics. that happens with a lot of us. we grew up in north carolina. i am a yellow dog democrat, as he was, and all -- unapologetic liberal. a definite progressive in my politics and beliefs. in a way, i think i was defined -- i'm surprised to hear myself say it -- defined by jesse helms, to a certain extent. in north carolina, he owned the only tv station. he would go on -- the programming was thin on the ground. he would go on and deliver these screens or harangues, rants. those of us living in north carolina, where my father worked for the university, he had studied medicine in cambridge in massachusetts. he had met my mother there. but he had moved to the family back to north carolina. chapel hill was a progressive enclave in those days and jesse helms would refer to it on his tv editorial as communist tale. -- hill. in a way, that defined -- it was an early. as an antagonist, i fe

at the state level. even though the election was close and president obama won and that is what the majority wanted. at the end of the day, i think that notion about fiscal conservative and those notions are ever present for the governor who is are strapped with facing real issues relative to their budgets. i interviewed a governor about implementing obama care in the wake of all this. i think there is -- it's still very, very early to talk about who in the field. but all of these folks in their own right, i think, bring strengths and all that of will -- we're going to have time to met out. they have states to run. >> we got a country to run. >> i want to ask on this. what i heard you say, this deficit reduction, the economic questions, part of what i'm interested in, post '08 the conservative voices that emerge were the limbaughs and the glenn beck rather than elected leaders. what i'm wondering, is there a way in which elected republicans might help to move conservatism towards an actual conservatism as opposed to the social angst that we saw last time? >> i kind of reject the pre

years ago and obama decided he didn't want to damage the economy because he was up for re-election. same players, same chest board, and they extend everything two years because they decided the president wanted to save himself and not damage the economy. his position is i don't mind damaging the economy because the two democratic senators who are from -- >> i'm going to ask this a different way. you are a political analyst. you want republicans to survive and thrive. >> pro-taxpayer candidates to survive and thrive. i would like the democrats to take the pledge. >> what do you think the republicans should do? what is a way for them to make a deal with this president who isn't going to give on rates and politically smart and what you consider a fiscally prudent deal? >> i want to stress, either the republicans sit with c-span cameras and say let's stepped the bush tax cuts for a year and let's have fundamental tax reform and here's what it would look like. >> what about extending 98% of the tax cuts if the alternative is raising taxes on 100% people? >> if it is on camera and the pe

us are excited about the fact that the president has been re-elected is because this court will undergo some changes over the next several years somewhere between one to three justices, and president obama will be able to appoint those justices. there's got to be some folk in the marriage equality activist community who would rather see this taken up a little bit later, but it's still good that it is. >> because at the moment, professor peterson, we're talking about them taking it up in march, aren't we? >> that's probably too soon, but there are some issues of import that they will be watching closely. remember, two federal judges have already sort of ruled against the ban prop 8 in california. it will be interesting to see if the supreme court follows those federal judges or if it will politicize this a little more and support prop 8. very, very interesting to see important social issues on the table for the supreme court but i think the timing makes us a little conflicted about it. >> allian, ev . >> julian, speaker boehner has the president is marching the nation to a catacl

decreases! >> gretchen: remember after the election when people were talking about president obama's legacy and that he would maybe want to be remembered as more of a compromiser and a working across the aisles? it doesn't appear at first blush that that is maybe where we're going with this whole deal thing. first of all, we were talking about maybe we could do a long-term deal right now and really get serious about fixing america's debt. >> brian: with tax reform. >> gretchen: yeah. i think most americans who are reasonable know that there has to be compromise on both sides. but right now, it appears, because the president won this election, that he does not feel the need to compromise, at least 29 days out. >> steve: the conventional wisdom is because the president won -- keep in mind, the country did vote for divided government because the republicans did keep control of the house of representatives. conventional wisdom is that the president has the upper hand and the republicans are worried, well, if something bad happens, we go off the cliff, we'll get blamed for that. what's wo

right a little bit. in this plan, obama knows republicans don't support stimulus money. they don't support $1.6 trillion in taxes. he's saying i won the election. we're going to start with a plan pretty far to the left and move slightly from there. he's playing hardball and saying they have to come to me. they have to accept tax increases. they have to spell out the spending cuts they want. he's trying to play a very assertive role in this discussion. >> all right. let's go here with you, dane that listen to speaker john boehner talking about this on friday about the president's plan. >> they want to have this extra spending that's actually greater than the amount they're willing to cut. i mean, it was not a serious proposal. and so right now we're almost nowhere. >> have you found almost nowhere on a map? do you know where we are? >> yes, it's in washington, d.c. right there in the center, the capitol, under the rotunda. it wasn't a serious proposal of course because it's not really a proposal. there's more posing and posturing going on in washington now than your typical yoga cla

order to avoid the fiscal cliff. president obama first invited romney on election night when romney called to concede and the romney adviser said it is very gracious and the right thing to do. no aides will be present at today's meeting. the two will speak one on one. even though the two parties are saying they are willing to reach across the aisle during fiscal cliff negotiations, we're not seeing much in terms of a deal. the latest roadblock is the cost of federal retirement programs. republicans are staying is up to the president to cut back on medicare medicaid and social security but democrats want entitlement programs completely off the table. today, the white house is sending treasury secretary timothy geithner and congressional negotiator rob neighbor to capitol hill where they will lay out their proposal with speaker boehner. more bill press is coming up after the break. as always, we're live in our chat room and would love to see you there. current.com/billpress. we're right back. you're about to watch a viewer created ad message for little caesars who proudly salutes unit

-election of barack obama. you have people realizing not only is it their second amendment right but they may be in a situation where they need a firearm to protect themselves. they're coming to the realization. it is just caused up tick and a spike. last friday on black friday it was through the roof. >> reporter: according to gallup 43% of women surveyed last year report owning a gun which is a new high. the nra is reporting that over the last four or five years there has been exponential increase in women participating in safety programs and licensing programs and hunting programs. women feel safer knowing how to use guns. i can tell you some of the gun shop manufacturers are starting to market more toward women. you see the pink series what i'm wearing here and the long rifles and some are for breast cancer awareness. jon, back to you. jon: anna koiman live at a gun range in new jersey. interesting. anna, thank you. jenna: a new washington guessing game shaping up over who will replace outgoing secretary of state hillary clinton. at least one possible nominee is keeping a very low pro

right. president obama is speaking out about the fiscal cliff in his first television interview since the election. he spoke with bloomberg's white house correspondent yesterday and the white house just aired on bloomberg television minutes ago. here's some of what the president had to say about the republican proposal to close tax loopholes without raising taxes on the country's top 2%. >> it's not me being stubborn. it's not me being partisan. it's a matter of math. you know, there's a lot of talk that somehow we can raise $800 billion or a trillion worth of revenue by closing loop hopes and destructions. but a lot of your viewers understand that the only way to do that if you completely eliminated, for example, charitable deductions. well, if you eliminate charitable deductions that means every hospital and university and nonfor profit agency across the country would suddenly find themselves on the verge of collapse. so that's not a realistic option. >> that aired a few minutes ago. we'll have a lot more on that in the next hour of newsroom. so do stick around for that. >>> it is a

ago it was then-president-elect obama and john mccain. >> i think that's a -- sends a great message to the american people. these two men were involved in a very bitter election for to be president of the united states. i think it speaks well of both of them to sit down and have lunch. >> reporter: earlier in the day the former gop nominee met with his former running mate paul ryan where an aide to the congressman said he had a constructive and positive conversation with mitt romney this morning. in addition to sharing updates from their families and reflections from the campaign, their forward looking conversation focused on resolving the critical fiscal and economic challenges ahead. translation, fiscal cliff. it's a challenge romney might have faced had he won. but as one of his strategists said on cbs, mistakes were made. >> i think we should have done a better job reaching out to women voters, the governor has a great record on women's issues. we should have done a better job articulating that record. and we should have done a better job reaching out to hispanic voters. >> repo

for daily use and a 30-tablet free trial. >> when president obama was re-elected it was the heist unemployment rate since franklin dell another roosevelt. high unemployment isn't the only reason it is like 1937. joining us now to explain why is amity slave she is the director of the bush institute for 4 percent growth project author of the fourth coming book on coolidge. i can't wait to read that. 1937 looking a lot like 2013. how so? you broke it down by 4 different points. number one you say preelection spending that sets records. explain why this is one of the major problems? >> you call 1936 was an election year like this year. they spent a lot. they spent a record amount. 1936 interestingly was the first year in peace time that the federal government was bigger than the states. america the states and towns used to be the big government and the federal government was a pygmy. that changed in 36. roosevelt campaigning made that great. this past year we spent a record share of the economy as well. that's the first one. >> number two off the list is the cold water afterward after

institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> president obama hosted former governor mitt romney for lunch on thursday. the white house -- they released this photo of their first meeting since the end of the election. governor romney is said to have congratulated the president and the two had a discussion that lasted more than an hour. >> friday on "washington journal," a congressional historian gives a history of the filibuster rule in the senate and explains the changes the senate leader harry reid is pursuing. at 8:00, a guest from political examines key tax credits aimed at families and businesses that would be impacted if congress does not act in the so-called fiscal cliff. "washington journal is live starting at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> the program began under a man who was one of the advisers to president franklin roosevelt. to document the conditions under which people were living. this was back when you did not have television. we had radio, but a lot of places did not have electricity so they could not listen to the broadcast to find out what

all. the former presidential candidate is meeting president obama for lunch today in a private white house dining room. now, the president had promised, of course, in his victory speech that he would reach out to his rival. romney has been spending most post election time at his family's home in southern california. wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall of that one? ♪ awkward >> slightly. or maybe they will actually be more, more warm and hospitable than we think. >> you think with such a partisan, divisive election. you wonder how they kind of break that ice, and the president with his political role model, lincoln. team rival. there was at some point, romney would be treasury secretary. a little unlikely. at least give romney a role in some economic council or advisory position. >> the president has gone on record and says he respects romney for his work with the olympics, restoring the olympics, you know, his skillset lends to ideas that could get the economy growing going. but his spokesman said he does not have a specific assignment for his arrival but it was going to be a